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I'd have AJ win, then have Steph put Brock in a title match as punishment, a multi person match so you can protect Brock the next night.. Then do an injury angle so Brock is off indefintely and Drew wins the title.

Apparently, Meltzer is saying Brock is signed on for Survivor Series and The Rumble where he faces Braun again though.

I'd give AJ the roll-up win, but I'm sure it will be very similar to their last match (and the result too).

If itís remotely similar to their last match... Iíll be satisfied. I love that match. Brock was doing his whole suplex city thing, and then AJ caught him with a random elbow (if I remember correctly). From then on, it was a great match with Brock doing a good job on selling and AJ being the scrappy underdog trying to bring down the juggernaut. Iím all for Brock/AJ 2.

So Daniel Cormier, the MMA fighter he is slated to fight has said his last fight will be in March next year and then he will retire. That would mean either the new years card for the ufc or probably going into camp post Rumble for a March fight.

Surley he loses the title before he fights in the UFC, even at full insanity I can't see Vince risking his champion losing and realistically that is by far the most likely outcome.

That would mean he doesn't hold to Mania which makes things interesting.

Unless, and this is my crazy idea, we are indeed getting Brock Lesnar vs The Rock at WrestleMania. Aka peak WWE fascination over the past with a middle finger to the present. I'm penning something on that, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least. They've built up no one to be a credible challenger for Lesnar, therefore I fully expect them to go jumping to the past and bring in either him or (now HHH is injured) Batista. Basically they've built no one but Roman to World Title level for yearss, now they're paying the price but I don't expect them to stop.

Basically that's my Worst Case Scenario for the main event (aside from Lesnar vs Taker), zero faith in a current star being in it so if anything different happens I'll be happily surprised.

That's not a bad point actually, Imp - especially given the rumour that the Saudis were reversing a truckload of cash to WWEs door to have The Rock appear as WWE Champion next time they go over there, which is presumably just post-Mania.

There's a huge part of me that still wants to see Brock Vs Miz. Essentially all the more interesting opponents for Brock now are on the Smackdown side.

Unless, and this is my crazy idea, we are indeed getting Brock Lesnar vs The Rock at WrestleMania. Aka peak WWE fascination over the past with a middle finger to the present. I'm penning something on that, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least. They've built up no one to be a credible challenger for Lesnar, therefore I fully expect them to go jumping to the past and bring in either him or (now HHH is injured) Batista. Basically they've built no one but Roman to World Title level for yearss, now they're paying the price but I don't expect them to stop.

I'm also posting a column about the challengers and The Rock is on it alongside Batista, I promise I didn't steal your idea. Sorry Imp.

As to The Miz, I agree, seeing him forced to go against Brock would be interesting because he isn't afraid of playing a coward but would then have to suck it up and do something truly heroic and overcome his fears. Would be a hell of a face turn.

However I think you are forgetting a certain Architect who has taken up residence on Raw.

UFC 235 is March 2. That's likely the date that they're gunning for for the Brock fight, since Cormier has March 21 earmarked as his retirement date.

That could put Brock back on TV for five weeks before Mania. That's pretty standard in recent years for match announcements and builds at Mania, plus Paul can be around all February hyping Brock's UFC fight and building to something with Brock's opponent.

I'm somewhat convinced that they want Brock holding that belt heading into Mania. The reason being that both Dana and Vince would probably salivate at the notion of Paul Hayman/WWE spending the entire month of February promoting UFC 235 in exchange for Brock doing all his interviews/promotional stuff/video packages/walk to the cage with that WWE Universal Championship around his waist.

The other option, more interesting in my opinion, is Brock loses the belt in December but wins the Rumble. He doesn't have to do much in the match to risk his UFC fight or hurt his training camp. He can come in at like 20, work a standard (and relatively safe) battle royal style and win.

Then, you have the story of this guy on a mission to win BOTH of sports entertainment's biggest Championships. In a perfect storytelling world, he beats Cormier and when Rogan puts the mic to his mouth he cuts the promo selling WrestleMania that he just won this belt and now he's winning the other in five weeks.

BUT...what happens if/when Lesnar loses the UFC fight and doesn't win the title? The shine is off Lesnar for Wrestlemania.

The upside of having Lesnar with both belts and co-promoted as champions for both is awesome, but if he loses in the UFC, then that goes down hill.

Also, IF Lesnar wins his UFC fight and the title, then how can he possibly LOSE as Wrestlemania? Lesnar a legitimate fighting champion gets beat by a "fake" wrestler? Yes, I know, scripted outcomes, but you all get my point.

This is why Lesnar should not be the Universal Champion right now. They should have held off until after the Cormier fight. If Lesnar wins, then he goes into WM with the UFC title around his waist and then wins the Uni Title. If he loses the UFC fight, then he also loses at Mania.

The timing of the UFC fight is really not great for the WWE. Perfect for the UFC, as they have no down side. They get their buys and their fight regardless of the outcome, but the WWE needs to plan their narrative and the legit sport's outcome can and should greatly affect WM plans.

I don't necessarily think so. There's no reason a loss needs to kill him. He can show up on Monday the 4th by coming out during a match (preferably a match with some upper midcard guys) and killing everyone.

Then Paul can cut the promo that on that one night Cormier was the better man, nobody can win them all, Cormier has to retire because he's so afraid of facing Brock a second time, etc. Then pivot to "there will never be a 'better man' again, Brock isn't going to beat them, he's going to hurt them, etc.

You don't lose all your luster with one loss, especially if you can spin it. That's the beauty of pro wrestling.

My issue is this isn't 2014 and the shine on Brock has worn off on both sides except for the people in charge. Remember, a few years ago, it could be argued that Brock was the biggest star in WWE.. Fans loved when he showed up. Now? its stale and that's hard to get back. In the UFC, it was a big moment when he returned but he beat Mark Hunt and then popped on a drug test. The buys will probably still be good for another Brock fight but I feel like he hurt his legacy with that failed test.

they're probably going to need to do Brock/Batista and hope Batista has the fanbase behind him. Brock has made Braun look like a chump and they have no one else ready.

Theoretically speaking there is still time to get someone ready. I don't think it can be Braun at this point but if WWE were to strap the rocket to say Seth Rollins or even Daniel Bryan (which would require a move to RAW of course) right now it could be done. It's just not likely because WWE creative hasn't proven capable of doing such things over the last few years.

That's a far bigger deal than Brock by the way. Him losing to Cormier or Jon Jones or whoever in UFC would hurt, but unless he melts down like Conor or Khabib did and causes a huge incident the only people who will think he's a chump are UFC fans, and I'm betting a good chunk aren't going to be paying much attention to WWE anyway. Wrestling fans have either already soured on Brock, will ignore it or won't care enough because WWE has proven Wrestlemania and the brand itself is more of a draw.

I don't necessarily think so. There's no reason a loss needs to kill him. He can show up on Monday the 4th by coming out during a match (preferably a match with some upper midcard guys) and killing everyone.

Then Paul can cut the promo that on that one night Cormier was the better man, nobody can win them all, Cormier has to retire because he's so afraid of facing Brock a second time, etc. Then pivot to "there will never be a 'better man' again, Brock isn't going to beat them, he's going to hurt them, etc.

You don't lose all your luster with one loss, especially if you can spin it. That's the beauty of pro wrestling.

I get what you are saying, but a loss to Cormier less than a month from Mania will hurt Lesnar. Pro wrestling can spin anything, especially with Paul Heyman's silver tongue, but you can't hide a legit loss. Lesnar is sold to us by the WWE as an unstoppable beast, and IF, IF, he loses in the UFC, Brock loses some of that feeling. It is similar to the 2007 New England Patriots, they went the entire season and playoffs without losing, going a perfect 18-0 up until the Superbowl, where they lost. The undefeated season of 16-0 is forgotten and overshadowed by the loss in the Superbowl, regardless of how impressive the season was. If Lesnar loses, it will hurt his status.

If the loss was a year prior, then the WWE has time to build Lesnar back up, but we are talking weeks between Mania and the UFC, and Lesnar regardless will most likely have to take time off to heal up. His face and body could be really swollen after the fight.

Also, Lesnar could potentially be really hurt during the fight. What will Vince do, if Lesnar gets really hurt and can't wrestle at Mania? That would throw a complete monkey wrench into the plans.

Also, IF Lesnar wins his UFC fight and the title, then how can he possibly LOSE as Wrestlemania? Lesnar a legitimate fighting champion gets beat by a "fake" wrestler? Yes, I know, scripted outcomes, but you all get my point.

You don't think Vince is going love that? Whoever gets the win over Brock at Mania gets to laud it that they also defeated a 'real' fighter, and no less than the UFC champion himself? That's the sort of thing that Vince craves, and always has if reports are to be believed. Legitimacy. And then he'd have a new champion, and with that once and for all (in Vince's mind) he shows that WWE > UFC.

Equally, though, I don't think there is any way that Dana and Vince aren't working on this together. Dana's a smart businessman and has spent the past years making UFC much higher in public profile through working media channels, and that's what he likely sees WWE as. And we know Vince is smart and will work with people when it feels like it benefits him. So yeah, I think the two are certainly putting together a way that this is mutually beneficial to them both, and while I'm not expressly suggesting it would or could happen I strongly think that both sides are working together to position Lesnar back on top of UFC with the title, and in turn have him on WWE with that title. So if Brock beats Cormier he wins the UFC Heavyweight Championship and 'retires' Cormier - pretty appealing from a marketing point of view, no? Seems like it would be pretty convenient for both UFC and WWE if Lesnar won.

Without any doubt I agree. And I have been thinking that there may be some underhanded tactics going on to have Lesnar beat Cormier, so that he can hold both titles on both programs. I just hope that if Lesnar wins, it is legit, because if the victory is in any way questioned, and turned out to be some collusion going on, it would kill both businesses.

Due to the styles, and Brock's size, it wouldn't be that shocking if he won. Cormier is a better wrestler but if he gets taken down enough, Brock can win that fight. If it stays standing, Cormier is proven to be a better striker than Brock and would probably overwhelm him.. I also doubt DC would throw his retirement fight.

I do not know enough about the UFC to argue anything for or against, but money is money. If Cormier is retiring from the sport, and Dana and Vince could give him some money under the table to throw the fight....any thing is possible.

I don't think there's that much incentive from UFC's side, I mean if Brock were to win, you get 1 more fight or 2 but if the fight comes out to be fixed in anyway it would really damage UFC. WWE would only take a small hit in comparison....

Ok so I've worked it out. Brock Lesnar is best used against someone who's style complements his not competes against it.

Lesnar never stood out solely for his size but tee combination of his speed and size so when he goes agsinst a guy like Braun he has to double down on the size and strength stuff which leads to all the bad habits we have spoken about. Against guys like Bryan, AJ or even going back to Punk, Lesnar's size is a given so he can bump around and use that speed a bit instead of just trying to out hoss a hoss.